Sometimes the tools that change our lives find us when we need them most.

For me, that moment came around 2010. I was a registered nurse —someone who had spent years caring for others — but quietly, I was struggling. I was navigating depression and an unhappy marriage, searching for something that might help me feel like myself again. Then I came across an advertisement for the Annual Tapping Summit. Curious and a little skeptical, I decided to give it a try.

It worked.

I couldn't fully explain why at first. The process seemed almost too simple — gently tapping on specific points on the body while speaking honestly about what you were feeling. And yet something shifted.

The weight I had been carrying began to lighten. I was fascinated, and I kept coming back — to the summits, to the practice, to the quiet but undeniable results.

From Nurse to Healer — A Different Kind of Calling

I spent my career in nursing because I wanted to be of service. When I retired in 2016, that desire didn't retire with me. But I knew I didn't want to return to the traditional healthcare system. I wanted to help people in a different way — a deeper way.

Life, as it often does, had more lessons in store for me first. After going through a divorce, I turned to EFT again — not just to cope, but to truly rediscover who I was. Tapping helped me peel back the layers, reconnect with myself, and find clarity about my path forward. It was through that personal healing journey that I knew: this was how I wanted to serve others.

In 2023, I graduated from a clinical EFT certification program, bringing together everything I had learned — both professionally as a nurse and personally as someone who had walked through difficulty and come out the other side. Since then I have had the privilege of working with family, friends, and now clients through my practice, Soft Landings EFT.

So What Exactly Is EFT?

EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques — though most people simply call it tapping. It is a gentle, evidence-based practice that combines elements of cognitive therapy with acupressure, working with the body's natural energy system to release emotional and physical distress.

During an EFT session, you tap with your fingertips on specific meridian points on the face, upper body, and hands — the same energy pathways used in acupuncture — while focusing on what you are feeling or experiencing. This simple act sends a calming signal to the amygdala, the part of your brain responsible for the stress response, essentially telling your nervous system that it is safe to relax.

What makes EFT so remarkable is that it works on multiple levels at once — addressing the thoughts, feelings, memories, and physical sensations that are all connected to what you are carrying.

Why I Use EFT — and Why It Works

The heart of why I chose EFT is its simplicity and its efficacy. These two things together are rare.

One of the things I love most is that I can teach clients basic tapping techniques they can use on their own, right away. If anxiety rises in the middle of the night, or fear shows up before a doctor's appointment, you don't have to wait for your next session. You have a tool in your hands — literally — that you can use anywhere, anytime.

But EFT goes far beyond managing anxiety in the moment. In our deeper work together, I guide clientsthrough a process of gently uncovering the root of what they are experiencing — the beliefs, memories, and emotional patterns that may have been quietly influencing their health and wellbeing for years. By working at that deeper level, real and lasting healing becomes possible.

This passion for going deeper prompted me to continue my education into two additional areas that I believe are profoundly transformative: Energy Psychology and inner child work. Energy Psychology broadens the healing framework by working with the body's energy system in ways that support emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing. Inner child work takes us gently into the earlier experiences and beliefs that often lie at the very root of our struggles — the parts of us that are still waiting to feel safe, seen, and loved. Together, these three approaches create a powerful and compassionate path toward healing that addresses the whole person.

EFT and the Cancer Journey

When you are navigating a cancer diagnosis, you are not just dealing with a physical illness. You are managing fear, grief, uncertainty, and often a deep sense of loss of control. The emotional weight can feel just as overwhelming as the medical journey itself.

This is where EFT can be a quiet but powerful companion — and where the combination of EFT, Energy Psychology, and inner child work becomes truly remarkable.

Each of these three approaches brings something essential to the healing journey. EFT calms the nervous system and releases the emotional charge around fear, anxiety, and worry. Energy Psychology works at a deeper energetic level, helping to shift long-held patterns that may be contributing to physical and emotional distress. And inner child work gently reaches the earliest wounds — the deeply buried beliefs about safety, worthiness, and survival — that a serious illness can bring powerfully to the surface.

Used together, these three modalities don't just help you cope. They help you heal from the inside out — creating an internal environment that supports your body, quiets your mind, and reconnects you with your own innate strength and resilience. They won't replace your medical team, but they can work beautifully alongside everything else you are doing.

I have had the profound privilege of working with individuals on their cancer journeys, and what I have witnessed is both humbling and inspiring. When people feel emotionally supported, when fear begins to loosen its grip, something opens up. They feel more like themselves again. They reconnect with hope.

You Don't Have to Carry This Alone

If you are reading this as someone navigating a cancer diagnosis — whether your own or a loved one's — I want you to know that support is available. Healing happens on many levels, and tending to your emotional and energetic wellbeing is just as important as tending to your physical body.

I came to this work through my own healing. I know what it feels like to search for something that truly helps. And I know the quiet relief of finding it.

If you are curious about whether EFT might be right for you, I warmly invite you to reach out. Every journey begins with a single step — and sometimes, that step is simply asking a question.

Somewhere along the way, we made food complicated. Not in a good way—more like in a “we have 47 ingredients in something that should have 3” kind of way. We’ve traded what God created for what’s convenient, what’s real for what’s processed, and somehow we’ve ended up overfed… but undernourished.

Scripture is pretty clear about how we’re supposed to view our bodies: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit… therefore honor God with your bodies.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). That’s not just spiritual—it’s practical. A temple isn’t neglected. It’s not filled with junk. It’s cared for, protected, and respected. And yet, if we’re honest, most of us don’t treat our bodies like a temple. We treat them like a catch-all.

If you go all the way back to the beginning, God already laid it out for us: “I give you every seed-bearing plant… and every tree that has fruit… they will be yours for food.” (Genesis 1:29). It was simple. Real food. Whole food. Food that came from the ground—not a factory. We’ve just gotten really good at improving on what didn’t need improving, and now we’re left trying to fix problems that didn’t exist before.

The truth is, food isn’t just calories—it’s information. It either helps your body or it works against it. Whole foods nourish. Processed foods often inflame. This isn’t about being perfect, it’s about being aware. Especially when your body is already fighting something—whether that’s cancer or just everyday inflammation—the last thing it needs is more to fight.

Fasting is another piece of this that we’ve drifted away from. It’s not new and it’s not a trend—it’s biblical. “When you fast…” (Matthew 6:16). Not if—when. Fasting creates space, both physically and spiritually. It gives your body a break and your mind a reset. It’s not about extremes or doing something dramatic. It’s about intention. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is simply pause.

Watching Tonya walk through her journey changed the way I look at all of this. When you’re faced with something that serious, you start asking different questions. Not “What’s easy?” but “What actually matters?” And so much of it came back to the basics—what we’re putting in our bodies, how we’re taking care of ourselves, and whether we’re living in a way that actually supports healing.

This isn’t about rules, and it’s definitely not about perfection. It’s about respect. Respect for the body God gave you and the way it was designed to function. Maybe it’s as simple as getting back to what we were given in the first place—eating more of what God created, less of what man made, paying attention to how your body responds, and being intentional about things like fasting.

Nothing complicated. Just a shift back to the basics we were never meant to leave.